Wizards of the Coast owns up to MTG AI utilization after marketing backlash

Wizards of the Coast have come clean about the use of AI in recent marketing material after backlash led to some Magic: The Gathering artists voicing their plans to walk away from the game.

The card game’s maker says the vendor who crafted a marketing image for Ravnica Remastered did in fact use AI generation in the image, confirming suspicions from the community in a series of posts to Twitter on Jan. 7. WotC took accountability stressing that it is on them to ensure humans make all of its art.

Since AI has begun to grow in all industries, especially the art space, WotC has stressed that its writers, artists, and other creatives opt not to use generative AI to create the products that are shipped for MTG. Now, after this marketing blunder, the team says they are evaluating how they work with vendors to make sure even promotional images are meeting those values.

In the art space, the use of AI is widely criticized and as a result, even seeing it in this promotional image has led to at least one MTG artist deciding to move away from the game. Dave Rapoza accused WotC of being hypocritical regarding AI implementation in MTG and other WotC products and said he is done working on the company’s hit game. He wasn’t the only artist to criticize the card game developer either.

It remains to be seen whether this response from WotC is enough to smooth out the relationship and build trust with those artists who were upset by the AI implementation. Fortunately, WotC’s plan should mean that AI art like this shouldn’t pass through for publishing again.

For now, those who were concerned that this would be the start of more AI used in MTG art can rest assured knowing that WotC’s stance on the issue has not changed.